Growing Up in the Scott House
by thebonron
Summary: Someone gave me this idea... Lucas and Nathan are kids, growing up and being raised by Dan and Karen. If you want to know how that came to be, check out the prologue of my other story- How it Could Have Been.
1. Luke's Birthday

Nine year-old Nathan sat on the floor of the living room, trying to wrap up a present. He was having trouble taping up the edges. Karen came up to her youngest son and sat down next to him.

"Need some help, Nate?" she asked.

"No. I want to do this by myself."

The next day was Lucas's tenth birthday. Karen and Nathan were wrapping up presents and baking a chocolate cake while Dan had taken Lucas out to see a movie to get him out of the way.

"Alright, Nathan. But if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask me."

Nathan was determined to get his own present for Lucas this year. All of the previous times, Karen or Dan had taken Nathan to the mall with them and they had picked out some presents together. This year, Nathan wanted it to give Lucas something that he had bought himself. So he had saved up his allowance and asked Karen to take him to the mall. There, he came across a really cool model airplane building kit that cost a bit more than he could afford. Karen helped him out, however, and they left the store with Nathan grinning from ear to ear.

"Luke's going to love it," Nathan smiled.

"I'm sure he will, sweetie," Karen said. "I'm proud of you for saving up your allowance to buy your brother a birthday present. It shows that you're growing up."

"Not as fast as Lucas," Nathan sighed. "I can't _wait_ to be ten!"

"You'll be there soon enough," Karen smiled. "For now just enjoy being nine. Don't wish your life away."

"What does that mean?" Nathan looked confused.

"You'll understand later, I guess... Do you want to help me mix the batter?"

"YES!" Nathan jumped up. "Do I get to lick the spoon after?"

"As long as you don't put it back into the bowl after," Karen laughed, remembering what happened when she and the boys were making the cake for Dan's birthday.

"OK!" Nathan ran into the kitchen and started vigorously mixing the chocolate batter.

"Nathan! Not so fast, you'll spill it all!" Karen ran after him.

That night, after Dan and Lucas had come home, the family had dinner together.

"How was your day?" Karen asked her eldest.

"Great!" Lucas said between bites of spaghetti.

"Me and Dad went to see the new mafia movie that just came out and it's PG-13, but because Dad was with me they let me in! It was sooo cool!"

"No way!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Dan!" Karen looked reprovingly at her husband.

"Lucas, that was supposed to be a secret," Dan laughed. "Oh well. Come on, Karen, it wasn't that inappropriate."

"A mafia movie? For an almost ten year-old?"

"Well, nothing else that was playing was any good."

"Your father's terrible," Karen looked at Lucas. "But I suppose one movie isn't going to corrupt your young mind."

"So can I see the R-rated movie that you and Dad took out the other day?"

"Don't push your luck," Dan looked at his son. "You're turning ten tomorrow, not seventeen."

"Dad?" Nathan piped up. "Can you take _me _to see a movie sometime?"

"You see what you've done?" Karen looked at Dan. "Now Nathan wants to see the movie too!"

For the rest of dinner, the Scott family argued the appropriateness of PG-13 movies, with Dan, Nathan and Lucas on one side, and Karen on the other.

Sometime after dinner, Karen put Nathan to bed. She still tucked in both of her boys, despite them sometimes telling her that they were getting too old for that. Deep down, she knew that they liked being tucked in and babied.

Lucas had an extra thirty minutes, so long as he was quiet, because he was almost a year older than Nathan. Thirty minutes later, Karen came up to him, reading _A Series of Unfortunate _Events on the couch, and tapped him on the shoulder.  
"Luke, it's time for bed," she said.

"Already? Just five more minutes, please, Mom?"

"Lucas, the earlier you go to bed, the earlier you'll wake up and be ten years old, a double-digit number."

"That's right!" Lucas smiled. "I'll be older than Nathan!"

"Yep," Karen smiled. "So, go wash up, okay? I'll come into your room in a second."

"Sure Mom," Lucas smiled.

After Lucas was all washed up and lying in bed, Karen came in. "I cannot believe my baby is turning ten tomorrow," she said, unsure of whether she was speaking to herself or to Lucas.

"I'm not a baby!" Lucas protested.

"You'll always be my baby," Karen said. "Now go to sleep. When you wake up, it'll be your birthday."  
Karen kissed him on the forehead and turned off the lights.

The next morning Karen, Dan and Nathan came into Lucas's room.

"Happy Birthday Lucas!" they rushed over to hug him.

"Thanks, everyone," Lucas said groggily.

"Happy tenth, Brother!" Nathan said.

"Thanks!"

"Now Lucas," Dan smiled. "We could give you time to sleep, or we could open presents. Which would you prefer?'

"PRESENTS!" Lucas yelled out.

"Alright, then," Dan smiled. "Karen, I think our boy wants to open presents first."

A little while later, Lucas was sitting in his bed, surrounded by his birthday presents. A new basketball, some new basketball clothes, a little net for his room, new books, new toys, a couple of computer games and lots of candy.

"Thanks Mom, Dan, Nate," Luke smiled. "This is the best birthday ever!"

"Wait, Luke, I have one more thing for you," Nathan said as Karen nodded at him.

"But I thought," Luke started, but Lucas put a messily wrapped package into his arms.

"A model airplane kit!" Lucas exclaimed as he tore open the wrapping. "Thanks, bro!"

"Nathan bought it all by himself," Karen smiled.

"Thanks, Nate," Luke smiled. "T hat was really nice of you."

"Hey," Nathan looked embarassed. "You're my only brother. I can give up a little allowance for you."

Everyone laughed. "Son," Dan smiled. "Let's go down and have some pancakes. Then your grandparents will come over and we'll all have some birthday cake. And later, you can pick the place where we'll go for dinner."

"Pizza Palace!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Why am I not surprised?" Karen laughed. "But it's up to you, Luke."

The Scott family spent a really fun day together. After pancakes, both the Scott grandparents and the Roe grandparents came over. The family hugged, kissed, gave Lucas his presents, ate birthday cake and reminisced about the good old days when the boys were small and well-behaved. For dinner, they all went to Pizza Palace, Lucas's favourite restaurant. After pizza and ice-cream, it was finally time to go home. Back home, Lucas lay in his bed while Karen and Dan sat on both sides of him.

"Did you have a fun day, son?" Dan asked.

"The best! Thanks Mom and Dad," Lucas exclaimed.

"You're welcome, Luke," Karen smiled. "I just want you to know that I love you very much and I want you to have a very happy birthday."

"Me too, Son," Dan who was normally not very good with emotions, said. "I love you."

"Thanks. I'm just kind of sad now that my birthday's over," Lucas sighed.

"Well, you still have your birthday party tomorrow. All your friends will come over."

"Oh yeah," Lucas smiled. "That'll be fun!"

"We love you, son," Karen said again. "Happy Birthday."


	2. Sneaking Out

"No," Karen said for the umpteenth time that night.

"But, Mom," Lucas whined. "It's not that far."

"Yeah," Nathan added.

"Boys, the movie theatre is almost four miles from here. You're both ten years old. So there is absolutely no way that I am letting you ride there on your bicycles, especially at night. End of conversation."

"But Tim's parents are letting him..." Nathan used that as a final chance to get his mom to agree.

"First of all, Tim lives way closer to the movie theatre than we do. And second, and most important of all, I'm not Tim's mother, I'm yours."

"That's unfair," Nathan complained.

"I've had just about enough of this," Karen said. "You have already been told no by both your father and I. If you keep pushing me, I am going to get mad and start handing out punishment. So get out of my sight."

Nathan and Lucas knew their limits with Karen. She was a softie, but could also be fairly strict when

the time came. So the boys went upstairs and sat on the floor of Nathan's room.

"This is so unfair," Lucas whined. "Everyone's going to be there."

"_If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?" _Nathan mimicked Karen. "Too bad there's nothing we can do about it."

"Maybe there is," Lucas said thoughtfully.

"What are you, crazy? You know how Mom gets when she makes up her mind about something."

"Well, maybe, she doesn't have to know about it. We could go to the movies and be back before she notices anything."

"Sneak out, you mean?"

"Exactly."

"She'd kill us if she ever found out," Nathan observed.

"Which is precisely why she's not going to," Lucas replied to Nate's observation. "Mom's normally on her computer in the evening, right?"

"Right."

"And Dad's working late today."

"So?"

"So we'd ride our bikes to the movies, meet up with Tim and Peyton and everyone else and be back before anyone notices anything."

"I don't know, Luke..."

"Come on, Nate. Do you want see the movie or not?"

"I do, but Mom could be right. It is kind of far."

"What are you, chicken?"

That was how, Nathan, never being one to walk away from a taunt decided to join Lucas on their little escapade. They waited until Karen went upstairs to take their bikes and start the ride to the movie theatres.

The boys didn't get too far before it started to get dark. Because of this, the boys were unsure of where to go. All the houses in the neighbourhood looked similar and it didn't take Lucas and Nathan long to get completely lost.

"Luke?" Nate asked. "You do know where to go, right?"

"Sure. Mom's driven us to the movies lots of times before, right? We have to turn here, somewhere."

"Here?"

"I think..." Luke said and then stopped.

"Luke?" Nathan said in a small voice. "You don't know where to go, do you?"

"I do, I'm just not sure, exactly..."

"Luke!"

"Fine, I don't know, but we'll figure it out. We can just head home..."

"And which way is home?" Nathan's voice started to quiver.

"Um... Here let me just think for a second..."

The boys sat down on the curb without talking. They didn't know what to do and were just now beginning to realize their mistake. They sat without talking for about fifteen minutes until Nathan finally spoke up.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know!" Lucas snapped.

"It's just that, I'm kind of cold," Nathan added. Neither of the boys were wearing their jackets.

Just then a car pulled over and Dan and Karen ran out.

"Lucas! Nathan!" Karen cried out. "Oh thank God!"

"Mom!" Nathan jumped up and ran into his mom's arms, with Lucas following at his heels.

"Thank God," Karen was crying. "We didn't know where you two could have taken off, so I called your father and we got in the car. Thank God that you weren't too far from the house..."

"What were you thinking?" Dan said, hugging both of his boys. "We were so worried. We're so glad you're safe. Just get in the car for now."

The ride home was fairly short. Nobody talked, but Karen sat in the back seat in between Lucas and Nathan, holding their hands while Dan just stared ahead at the road. Once home, Karen led both of her sons into the kitchen.

"You must be freezing! I'll make you some soup."

After the boys were seated at the kitchen table eating soup, Dan and Karen came up to them and sat down at the kitchen table.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do," Dan said as he sat down. "What were you doing out alone after dark? With your bicycles?"

"I have a feeling I know what this is about," Karen interrupted. "You boys snuck out of the house to try and see the movie, didn't you?"

Lucas and Nathan just stared ahead.

"The movie your mother and I both said you couldn't go to repeatedly?" Dan asked. "What were you thinking?"

"You completely disregarded our rules, you got lost and if your mother and I didn't find you, who knows what would have happened?" Dan went on after no one said anything.

"We didn't get too far..." Lucas added feebly.

"That is not the point!" Dan lost his temper. "You had us worried sick! Did it ever occur to either of you that your mother might notice the two of you being out of the house at this hour?"

"Dan, calm down," Karen jumped in. "The important thing is that they're safe. We can discuss everything else later."

"No, we can discuss this now! They didn't answer my question! What were you thinking, sneaking out?"

"We were just..." Nathan started. "We just wanted to... I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Lucas added. "We didn't mean to."

"That's **not** going to cut it!" Dan slammed his fist on the table.

"Dan!" Karen was looking at the boys. Nathan had tears running down his cheeks, while Lucas also looked pretty close to crying. "That's enough. I think that we should all calm down. We can talk about this tomorrow."

"Fine. Just go to bed," Dan addressed the boys.

Lucas and Nathan went upstairs and stood in the hallway that separated their rooms.

"That was a stupid idea," Lucas said.

"Tell me about it," Nate replied. "We are so dead tomorrow."

Meanwhile Karen was talking to Dan.

"You're telling me that you're OK with this?" Dan asked Karen.

"No, Dan, I'm not. I'm just saying that I'm really happy that the boys are OK. And for now that's all that matters."

"But Karen..."

"Dan, I know that what they did was wrong. But maybe it was our fault for not talking to them about it more..."

"You're saying it's my fault they snuck out?" Dan looked at Karen in disbelief.

"I'm not saying anything except that maybe we should just let it be for now. We'll work out everything else in the morning. But don't yell at them- it's only making things worse."

Karen and Dan continued talking until Karen went upstairs and saw Nathan and Lucas still standing in the hallway.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked.

"Nothing really," Lucas said.

"Come on, boys, let's sit," Karen motioned for her sons to follow her. "We'll talk."

"I just want to say that I'm really happy you two are okay. And yes, you two made some very poor choices tonight, I agree with your father completely on this one. But I am still very happy that we found you when we did."

"I'm sorry, Mom," Lucas said.

"Me too," added Nate.

"I know you are," Karen gave them both a side hug. "But we're going to have to do a lot of talking tomorrow."

"Your mother's right," everyone turned to look at Dan, who had just walked in. "Talking is something we'll be doing a lot of tomorrow. But I am sorry I snapped at you. For what it's worth, I was out of line."

"I'm sorry too, Dad," Nathan looked at Dan.

"Me too," echoed Lucas.

"I know boys. I'm not mad at you, not really. I'm just upset. But again, we'll talk about this in the morning, after your mother and I decide on your punishment."

"Punishment?" Nathan asked.

"Well, yeah," Karen laughed. "Did you two think you were getting away with scaring us like that? Not in a million years."

"Oh man," Lucas whined.

"Don't worry, Luke," Dan smiled. "It won't be too terrible. Now get to bed. You too, Nathan. It's late."

"I love you," Karen called after them. "I'll come by in just a second."

"Wow, Karen," Dan looked at his wife after the boys ran off. "Well, at least life's never boring with those two around, right?"

"You can say that again," Karen said as she and Dan walked downstairs to watch some late-night news together.


	3. Skateboarding Accident

Lucas and Nathan were out playing at the new skate park that had just been built near their house. Dan said that they could go as long as they were careful. Karen wouldn't have let them go by themselves, but she was out shopping with an old friend from college who was passing by Tree Hill. So the boys took this opportunity to ask their dad, who was generally more lenient than their mom.

Once at the skate park, they met up with Tim and started practicing their skate moves. Karen had always warned the boys about always wearing knee and wrist pads when skating, but of course, they had forgotten theirs at home and weren't about to go back for them.

"Let's race!" Tim shouted. "Nathan, I bet I can beat you!"

"Can NOT!" Nathan yelled out. "You know I'm better than you are!"

"Lucas, set us off!"

"On your marks, get set, GO!" Lucas screamed as Tim and Nathan set off on their skate boards.

"I'm winning!" Nathan was shouting. "In your face, Tim!"

But perhaps Nathan was going a little too fast, because the next thing he knew, he bumped into something and the ground started spinning beneath him. His skateboard had gotten away from him while Nathan himself went flying and landed painfully on the gravel with a thud.

"Nate! Are you OK?" Tim and Lucas ran up to him.

"Ow..." Nathan moaned. "My arm. Hurts."

"Did you land on it?"

"Yes," Nathan was doing a sorry job of trying to hold back his tears. "It hurts, Luke."

Lucas and Tim tried to get Nathan to sit up and just then noticed the crooked shape of his arm.

"It doesn't look good, Luke," Tim said. "What do we do?"

"Call someone? Do you have a cell phone?"

"No."

"Do you have a quarter? There's a pay phone right there."

Thankfully Lucas had some change in his pockets, so he ran up to the pay phone and dialled Dan.

"Dad?" he asked when Dan picked up. "Are you there?"

"Yes, Luke," Dan said. "I'm kind of busy at work, so can you make this quick?"

"No, Dad, Nate's hurt. He fell at the skate park and his arm looks really bad. What do we do?"

"What? How?"

"He was racing Tim and..."

"No," Dan interrupted. "I'll be right there. Don't move and do not try to move Nathan."

Ten minutes later, Dan was at the skate park.

"Here, Nate," he said, running over to his youngest son. "Does it hurt?"

"Uh-huh," Nate was crying harder now. "Real bad."

"Don't worry, son, we'll get you to the hospital real quick. You'll be fine." Dan picked Nathan up and carried him to the car.

"Boys, get in," Dan addressed Lucas and Tim. "We need to get going as soon as possible. Tim, you're going to have to come with us because there is no time to drop you off at home and I cannot leave you here alone."

"No, that's fine," Tim insisted. "I want to come."

"Alright then," Dan said and the four of them drove towards the hospital.

Once at the hospital, they were shown into the emergency room. There, however, was a bunch of other people, all bleeding or coughing or moaning in pain. There was a long wait ahead of them and Dan had a lot of forms to fill out and insurance paperwork to do.

"Lucas, here's my phone- call your mother and tell her what happened. Tim, after he's done you can call your mom. We could be here for a long time and there's no reason for you to stick around. Nathan, how are you holding up?"

"Fine. It still hurts, though," Nathan was sitting in a chair and cradling his arm.

"I know, son. I broke an arm when I was about your age too."

"You did? How?"

"Jumping off a roof. Grandpa Royal nearly killed me when he found out that I wouldn't be playing basketball for quite some time."

"Right, basketball. I guess that's over for the season," Nate sighed gloomily.

"Let's see what the doctor says. But even if you can't play, don't worry. You'll catch up again next year. The important thing is for your arm to get better."

"Grandpa Scott was mean to you, wasn't he?" Nathan looked at his father.

"I guess he was, in a way. He pushed me so hard. If I ever get so crazy about basketball, be sure to let me know, OK?"

"Sure Dad," Nate started, but he wasn't able to finish that sentence because Lucas ran in.

"I called Mom! She freaked out and said that she was coming right away, only she and Allie went to some outlet mall that's at least an hour away, so it will take her some time to get here! I gave Tim your phone and he's calling home right now! They'll pick him up soon!"

"Sh, Luke. Turn the volume down a few notches, please," Dan said softly, noticing the stares of some of the people around them. "Did you tell Mom that Nathan's going to be fine?"

"Yes, but she still sounded scared."

"Well, yeah," Dan said, ruffling both Lucas's and Nathan's hair. "I would think so."

"Nathan Scott?" a nurse's voice came around the corner. "Follow me, please."

"Luke, go in the waiting room with Tim and wait there in case your mother comes," Dan said. "I'll come with Nathan."

"OK," Luke replied. "Good luck, Nate."

Lucas and Tim spent quite a bit of time in the waiting area. Eventually, Tim's mom came in.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lucas said. "Nathan's being looked at by a doctor right now and Dad's with him."

"Well, you tell him that I hope he gets better soon. Lucas, if you want we can drop you off at home, so you don't have to stay here by yourself."

"No thanks," Luke replied. "I should stay here for when my mom comes. Besides, I don't have a key to the house with me."

"Well, alright. Come on, Tim."

"See you, man," Tim waved at Lucas. "Tell Nate that I'll come sign his cast tomorrow or something."

Lucas was left alone in the waiting area. There were some outdated magazines and little kid's books, but other than that there wasn't a whole lot for Lucas to do but wait. Luckily, however, Karen came in pretty soon after Tim and his mother left.

"Lucas!" Karen looked really frazzled. "How are you? How's Nathan?"

"We're all fine," Luke looked at his mother. "Nathan's getting looked at by a doctor and Dad's with him."

"Is he hurt bad?"

"His arm looked pretty messed up. It's probably broken."

"Poor baby. Do you know how long it will take, in the doctor's room?"

"Not really. Dad just said to wait here with you."

"Oh," Karen sighed. "Well, we can use this time for you to tell me what happened. Were you guys at the skate park?"

"Yes," Lucas said, trying to leave out the fact that Dan wasn't with them. "Nathan and Tim were racing and he tripped over something and fell."

"Were you guys wearing protection?"

Lucas looked down.

"Luke, you might as well tell me. You're not going to be in trouble."

"No. No, we weren't."

Karen sighed. "Lucas, Lucas. What have I told you about always wearing knee and wrist pads? And what was your father thinking, watching you skate without them?"

"Um, Dad wasn't with us," Luke said quietly.

"What?"

"He let us go by ourselves."

"After I told him..." Karen paused. "No. Now's not the time. We'll all be having a long talk about safety later."

"OK, Mom," Luke hesitated. "I'm sorry."

"Lucas, it's not about doing what I want you to do. It's about staying safe. Don't you understand?"

Lucas and Karen sat in silence for a little bit.

"Mom?" Luke spoke up. "I'm hungry."

"Here's a dollar. There's a vending machine right there."

Lucas came back with a bag of chips and sat back down next to his mom.

"You want some, Mom?"

"Sure," Karen who was normally against junk food, said. "I haven't eaten for the longest time."

They sat in the waiting area for another thirty minutes. Lucas was reading a dentistry magazine when Dan came into the room, carrying Nate in his arms.

"Hi, everyone," he said. "We're finally done."

"Nathan!" Karen ran toward her youngest son and gave him an awkward hug, considering that Dan was holding him. "How's your arm?"

"It still hurts a little, but they gave me medication and stuff, so it's alright."

"But is it broken?"

"In two places," Dan said. "That was quite a fall."

"You had me so worried!" Karen exclaimed.

"Cool cast, man," Lucas smiled looking at Nathan's new blue cast. "It's in your favourite colour."

"Yeah! They had green and red and cameo, but I chose this one!"

"Nate, don't get too excited- the meds are going to start kicking in soon," Dan warned him lightly.

"How are you going to play basketball with that cast?" Lucas remembered.

"I'm not," Nate sighed, looking sad. "Basketball's done for the season for me."

"It's OK, sweetie," Karen said. "You'll be out of the cast before you know it. And there's always next year."

"Hey, I think that we should get out of the waiting area," Dan suddenly realized. "Let's head home. Nathan, we'll set you up on the couch, next to the TV, so that you can rest."

"I'm hungry," Nathan said.

"Well, after I drop you guys off at home, I'll go get pizza or something."

"Cool. Mom, my arm's starting to hurt again."

"Well, that's the way it's going to be for a while. We'll try to make you comfortable at home."

And the Scott family headed towards the car, Dan holding Nathan and Karen holding Lucas's hand, with Nathan complaining softly about his arm hurting.


	4. Blondie

AN: Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas, or any other holiday that you might celebrate!

I got the idea for the following story from one of my readers, _Simone_! So, enjoy!

Karen was emptying out the coffee pot in her cafe when the phone rang.

"Anne, can you get that, please?" Karen called to one of the waitresses.

"Karen, it's for you!" Anne yelled a few minutes later. "They said it's important."

"Did they say who it was?"

"The school."

"What?" Karen grabbed the phone. "Hello? This is Karen Scott."

"Hello, Karen. This is Principal Shafer from Tree Hill Elementary calling. It's about your son, Lucas."

"Is he alright?" Karen's heart began pumping wildly.

"Oh, he's not hurt," Karen sighed in relief as soon as she heard those words. "But he's sitting across from me as we speak because of a little incident that happened at break. He got into a fight with one of his classmates, Alex Camden, in the hallway.

"Lucas?"

"I know, at first I couldn't believe it either. He's a good kid. Nevertheless, I'd like you to come and pick him up so that we can discuss what had happened."

"Alright," Karen hung up the phone, still in shock from the news. Lucas fighting? That never happened. If anyone ever got in trouble around the school, it was Nathan. Lucas was so much more quiet, so much more thoughtful.

"Anne?" Karen called. "There's been an emergency at the school, so I have to head out as soon as possible. Can you watch the cafe for me?"

"Sure, Kare," Anne replied. "Is Lucas alright?"

"He won't be after I'm through with him," Karen said. "He's at the principal's office for fighting at school. Can you believe him? After everything I've told both of them about fighting?"

"Karen, I know that you're in a rush, and it's probably not my place anyway, but could I just say one thing to you? If I know Lucas, and from what you've told me, I think I do, he was probably fighting over something important."

Karen nodded, without really giving Anne's comment a lot of thought, and ran towards the car. Ten minutes later, she was running into the office. The first thing she saw as she was walking in was Lucas, sitting in a swivel chair, looking sulky. The second thing she saw was the school principal, looking angry.

"Principal Shafer," Karen extended her hand. "I'm Lucas's mom."

"Hello, Mrs. Scott," the principal took her hand. "Mr. Scott wasn't able to join you?"

"He's in Seattle on a business trip."

"Well, you'll just have to tell him that Lucas here has earned himself a week of lunch detention, starting tomorrow. Also, he'll be writing apology letters to Alex and his family. And I'm letting you know now that he got off easy. If anything of the type ever happens again, he'll be suspended."

"Don't worry, Principal Shafer, I'll see to it that it doesn't," Karen glared at her son. "Was the other kid hurt?"

"Just a black eye- we pulled them apart before anything else could happen. But I'd like you to know that Lucas was the one that started the fight."

"It takes two to tango, Mr. Shafer."

Lucas looked up when he heard his mom defending him.

"Mrs. Scott- do not worry about that. We are talking to Alex's parents after our meeting. I'm just saying that you need to talk to Lucas about his behaviour."

"I will, Mr. Shafer. Thank you."

"Alright, then both of you are free to go. I think it'd be best if you take Lucas home for the day- classes are almost over anyway."

"Sure," Karen said. "Come on, Lucas."

Lucas followed his mom.

"What do you say?" Karen looked at him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Shafer," Luke said quietly. "I didn't mean to get into a fight."

"Let's hope it doesn't happen again, Lucas. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, Karen and Lucas went towards the car. "Get in," Karen said.

No one said anything for the duration of the ride home. It was only when Karen tossed her keys onto the kitchen table, that Lucas said quietly: "I'm sorry, Mom."

"Oh, it's fine. It's totally fine that I had to rush over from the cafe to come talk to your principal about your behaviour. That I had to drive you home and will have to drive back to the school an hour from now to pick up Nathan. No problem at all, Lucas."

"Mom, it wasn't my fault."

"Yeah? Well, what were you thinking, starting the fight?"

"I wasn't! I was just mad."

"That's not an excuse! We've told you time and time again, Lucas, that fighting doesn't solve anything!"

"I didn't mean to..."

"That doesn't make a difference!" Karen lost it. "Since you can't seem to understand that, I'll help you out. You're grounded for two weeks! School only. No TV, no video games, no going outside, no nothing!"

"Mom!" Lucas cried out. "That is not fair!"

"It's very fair! You were fighting for no good reason!"

"You don't know that!" Lucas yelled out.

Suddenly Karen remembered what Anne had told her at the cafe. _If Lucas had been fighting, it was probably for something important._

"Why were you fighting, Lucas?" Karen asked a bit more softly.

"Because Alex said that I was adopted! I don't look like you, Dad or Nathan- I am the only one in the family who has blonde hair, you know! People at school see that and they talk about it. Alex said that you only took me in because my real parents hated me from the first moment they laid eyes on me and left me on the side of the street. That's why I hit him!"

That was when Karen noticed the stray tear running down Lucas's cheek and felt an immediate pang of guilt for yelling at him.

"Lucas, come sit on my lap," she said.

"Why?" Lucas turned away.

"Because I'm your mommy, that's why. I want to talk to you."

Lucas climbed onto his mom's lap and Karen wrapped her arms around him and started rocking him slightly.

"Baby," she said. "You're not old enough to know this yet, but if you take biology, you'll learn about genes. Brown hair is dominant and blonde hair is recessive. That means that two blonde people can never have a dark-haired baby, but two dark-haired people can have a blonde baby, if there were other blondes in the family. Your Grandma Mae was blonde and so was my dad, your Grandpa Joe. So you see, just because you're blonde and the rest of us aren't, doesn't mean that you're adopted. You're not adopted, Lucas. I promise you that."

"I'm not?"

"No, sweetie. But even if you were, it wouldn't matter. It's not who gives birth to a child, it's who raises it that's important. And it's definitely not about hair or what you look like. But either way, you're my baby. I love you very, very much. And I never want you to feel like you're not a part of this family ever again, no matter what any idiot says. You're a very important member of this family and I wouldn't trade you for anyone else."

"OK, Mom," Luke smiled a bit. "I understand."

"No, I don't think you do. Sweetie, your whole life, you'll meet people that will make you angry. They'll say hurtful things and try to bring you down .So what are you going to do? Fight every single one of them?"

Lucas shook his head.

"That's right, Luke. You'll have to learn how to disregard the hurtful things that people say. Can you begin doing that as soon as possible?"

"Yes, Mom."

"That's my boy. I'm very sorry for yelling at you and for not giving you a chance to explain yourself. From now on, I'll always listen to you before getting mad. Do you forgive me, Luke?"

Luke smiled, nodded and gave Karen a hug.

"And I believe that lunch detention will be more than enough punishment for you, so long as this never happens again," Karen added. "Deal?"

"Deal. I love you Mom."

"I love you too," Karen kissed the top of Lucas's head and set him back down again. "Oh, look, it's practically time to pick up Nathan. Wait here while I go back to the school, will you? Don't answer the door to anyone and don't touch the stove."

"Mom!" Lucas looked offended. "I've stayed home alone before."

"I know, but it doesn't hurt to remind you to stay safe. Bye, Luke."

"One more thing, Mom," Luke called after Karen.

"Yes?"

"Do we have to tell Dad about the fight?"

"Well, I don't like keeping secrets from your father, but this one time, I might just let it slide. But if you _ever _get into a fight again, Luke..."

"I won't!" Lucas laughed. "Bye, Mom. You'll be late to pick up Nathan!"

_If you only knew, _Karen thought as she locked the door to the house.


	5. Mom and Dad Have a Fight

Dan, Lucas and Nathan were sitting on the couch, watching a basketball game and eating nachos. Karen was vacuuming the carpet around them.

"Boys, can you be careful with the nachos, please?" Karen asked, not for the first time that night. "I don't want to vacuum the living room a second time tonight."

"Mo-om!" Lucas exclaimed. "You've told us that already."

"Yeah, Mom," Nathan added. "We're being careful."

"Well, it doesn't look like it," Karen said as she picked a crumb off the floor. "Look at that!"

"Karen, relax. It's just a crumb," Dan said lazily, not taking his eyes off the TV.

"What's that, Dan? It's easy to tell me to relax when you're the one watching TV and I'm the one cleaning, isn't it?"

"Honey," Dan said. "I appreciate that you're making things nice for my parents, I really do. But come on, it's just a crumb. They're not going to care."

"Dan, I'll pretend I haven't heard that. Your parents are the ones coming over tomorrow, not mine. So you could thank me for cleaning the house, preparing everything and cooking for them. But if you're not going to thank me, the least you can do is not make this any harder for me."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Dan said, helping himself to more nachos and staring at the TV.

Karen gave an exasperated sigh and went to the kitchen.

"Michael Jordan ties the game!" came from the TV.

"Yeah!" the boys jumped up. As they were high-fiving each other and celebrating, Lucas bumped into the tray with the nachos, knocking it over. The chips ended up all over the carpet. All three stood in shock for a few moments, taking in the mess. Salsa and cheese was splattered everywhere, along with crushed tortilla chips and bits of ground beef.

"Lucas!" Dan reacted first. "Could you not be a little more careful? Look at what you've done!"

"Dad, I'm-I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Dan screamed, but was interrupted by Karen, who came into the room.

"Dan, don't yell at him," she said icily. "It's not his fault, after all. You're the one I told not to bring something so messy in front of the TV, but you didn't listen. And you tried to balance the tray on the couch. It's a small wonder it didn't tip over sooner."

"Are you out of your mind?" Dan turned around. "Lucas tips over the tray and you blame me?"

"I'm sorry, Mom," Lucas said quietly.

"Yes, Dan, because you're the adult here," Karen went on as though she hadn't heard Lucas. "You shouldn't have encouraged the boys eating in front of the TV. And you should have appreciated me cleaning the house for your parents, instead of making a mess on the couch."

"Well, excuse me, Karen, but you didn't say anything before."

"What was I supposed to do, grab the nachos out of your hands?"

"Karen, you're being unreasonable."

"Oh yeah? Well maybe I'm being unreasonable now! From now on, you can prepare the house for your parents by yourself. You can cook, clean and prepare the room they'll sleep in. I am not lifting a finger."

"Karen, don't be like this."

For the first time since the nachos tipped over, Karen looked at the boys, who were standing next to them. They looked so confused.

"Nathan, Lucas, I think it'd be better if you went to your rooms," Karen said.

"But Mom..." Lucas started.

"You heard your mother, Lucas Eugene Scott," Dan said in his no-nonsense voice. "Go up to your rooms."

The boys knew Dan's breaking point well and they both headed upstairs without saying anything else. They both went into Lucas's room, however, so that they could talk.

"Hey Luke?" Nathan asked after sitting down in Lucas's swivel chair. "They'll make up, right?"

"Probably. I mean they have to," Luke lay down on his bed and started tossing a Nerf ball up and down.

"Luke..." Nathan paused. "What if they don't?"

"Well, they can't live in the same house hating each other, right?"

"Exactly. What if they get a divorce?"

"They wouldn't, Nate," Lucas laughed.

"Why not? They sounded pretty mad..."

"Nate, you're exaggerating. They're probably downstairs making up right now."

"Let's try to hear what they're saying," Nathan suggested. "We could pretend to go down for a glass of milk."

"No. It's better not to get on Dad's bad side just now. Let's go on the stairs and see what we can hear."

The boys went to the top of the stairwell and sat with their knees tucked under their chins. Of course, they could only hear mumbling coming from downstairs.

"What do you hear?" Nathan asked Lucas.

"Something about being underappreciated. Can you hear anything?"

"No. I'll go downstairs after all. I'll stay at the bottom of the stairs and if they see me I'll pretend I heard them calling me."

"Not a good idea, Nathan," Lucas said, but of course Nathan didn't listen.

About one minute later, though it seemed like a lot longer for Lucas, Nathan came back.

"Did they catch you?" Lucas asked, already knowing the answer.

"No. I ran away pretty quick."

"So what'd you hear?"

"Um, I heard Mom say that she cannot go on living like this."

"What?"

"Yeah. You know what that means, Lucas. They're getting a divorce for sure."

"You were right. Oh my God. That means that Mom and Dad'll live in separate houses."

"And we'll only se Dad on the weekends, like Marty from school does."

"Maybe. Or Dad will take us and we'll only see Mom on the weekends."

"Luke, what if they each take one of us?"

"They wouldn't split us up."

"They could. I mean, then they'd each have a kid."

"That would suck. I mean, you're annoying, Nathan, but you're still my best friend."

"You too," Nathan smiled a bit, then looked serious. "Luke, this could be bad. Where would we live?"

Lucas didn't answer. He stared at the floor. "This is all my fault."

"What? Why?"

"I'm the one who knocked the nachos over. If that didn't happen, Mom and Dad wouldn't have fought."

"It's not your fault, Luke," Nathan said because he didn't know what else to say.

Just then they heard a door slam downstairs. "Lucas!" Nathan cried out. "Mom or Dad's probably leaving the house right now!"

Suddenly Nathan felt like crying. He'd be split up from Lucas, he'd never see one of his parents again. Before he knew it, tears were running down the length of his face.

"Don't cry, Nate," Lucas tried to help his brother, but his voice started breaking as well. "It'll be fine."

Suddenly Karen came into the room. "Time for bed, boys," she said, then took a look at her boys, looking scared and crying quietly.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Why are you crying?"

"You and Dad are getting a divorce, aren't you?" Lucas asked. "That's why Dad slammed the door. He left to go live somewhere else."

"Whoa, Lucas, slow down," Karen looked shocked. "Dad just went outside to turn off the porch light. We're not getting a divorce. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"You and Dad had a fight!" Nathan exclaimed. "And I heard you saying that you couldn't live like this anymore."

"I see, "Karen said, crouching down next to Nathan and wiping his eyes and nose with a tissue. "I think that maybe we need to talk. The four of us."

"But you're not splitting us up?" Nathan asked.

"Splitting you up? No! We were just talking about stuff downstairs." Karen laughed. "Dan! Come into Lucas's room for a moment."

"What is it, Karen?" Dan asked as he came into the room.

"Apparently these two have got it into their heads that we're getting a divorce."

"What? No! No, boys, we're not. Why'd you even think that?"

"Well, you guys had a fight..." Lucas tried to explain.

"Lucas- do you and Nathan ever fight?" Dan asked.

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Does that mean that you don't want him to be your brother?"

"No."

"Exactly. Everyone fights, boys," Karen said, placing her hand on Lucas's shoulder.

"But you and Dad are grown-ups!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Grown-ups fight too," Karen smiled. "Even more than kids do."

"That's right," Dan added. "It's been a tough day for all of us. Your mother and I were getting on each other's nerves all day. Plus, I was wrong not helping her with the grandparents preparations. I'm sorry, Kare."

Lucas and Nathan exchanged glances. Did Dan just say he was sorry?

"It's OK, Dan," Karen smiled. "I'm not mad, not really. I was just frustrated."

"So you're not moving into separate houses?" Nathan asked once more, to be sure.

"No," Dan smiled, placing an arm around Karen. "I was very lucky to get your mother. I am not letting this one go that easy."

"That's right," Karen laughed. "And who'd do all your stuff for you?"

"Hey!" Dan laughed.

Karen hugged Nathan and Lucas while Dan came up to each of them and ruffled their hair.

"I'm sorry about the nachos, Mom," Lucas said again.

"I'm not mad about that either, Luke," Karen said. "It was just a badly timed accident. Just be more careful next time."

"All three of us could use that advice," Dan smiled.

"Alright Nate and Lucas, _now _it's time for bed," Karen said. "And next time, please, instead of making up crazy stories, come and talk to your father or me first."

"Alright," Lucas said. "We'll do that."

"Good. We're going to go downstairs for a bit, but when I come up in ten minutes, I'd like to see both of you in bed with your teeth brushed," Karen said, as she and Dan headed downstairs.

"Well, we were way off there," Nathan said as soon as Dan and Karen were gone.

"Yeah," Luke laughed. "Buy you were the one that started the idea that Mom and Dad were getting divorced, anyway."

"Well, I was wrong."

"I'm glad you were," Lucas looked Nathan in the eye. "I wouldn't want us to live in separate houses, Nate."

"Me neither, Luke," Nathan smiled. "Now, let's go brush our teeth or Mom will clobber us."

Lucas threw a pillow at Nathan.

"What was that for?"

"No reason," Lucas laughed. "Just for being my annoying little bro."

"Oh yeah?" Nathan smiled and threw a pillow at Lucas.

Meanwhile Karen and Dan were downstairs, drinking coffee.

"God, Dan, we have to start being more careful," Karen said. "It scares the boys when we fight."

"Yeah, we do," Dan said. "Getting a divorce? Are they crazy? I'm not letting you go."

"I'm not leaving," Karen smiled and squeezed Dan's hand.


	6. Report Cards

Lucas ran out of the school, holding his report card, while Nathan slumped behind him, dejected.

"I got all A's, Nate," he said. "You know what that means, right? Dad will buy me that video game I've been asking for."

"You told me that already, Luke," Nathan said.

"Why aren't you excited? I'll let you play it too."

"It's just a stupid video game, Luke. Who cares?"

"You're just jealous because your grades suck."

"You suck," Nathan retorted bitterly, unable to come up with a better comeback because he knew that what Lucas had said was true.

"Oh yeah, well you..." Lucas started, but was interrupted by a honk.

"Lucas, Nathan!" Dan called out of the driver's window. "I'm picking you guys up today!"

"Where's Mom?" Lucas asked as the boys climbed into the back seat of Dan's jeep.

"She got held up at the cafe. She'll be home in about thirty minutes."

"Why are you two so quiet?" Dan asked, observing the silence that followed. "Did something happen at school?"

"We got our report cards," Lucas said smugly, while Nathan played with his shoelaces.

"That's good," Dan observed. "We'll take a look at them together as soon as we get home."

"I got straight A's!" Lucas couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Awesome job, Luke," Dan turned around and smiled. "I'm proud of you, son."

"Will you get me that video game now?"

"I would say that that's a definite possibility."

Nathan didn't say anything while Dan and Lucas chattered the whole way home. Once home, he went into the kitchen and got himself an apple. Munching on his apple, Nathan was about to go up to his room when Dan came up to him.

"Hold on, Nathan," he said. "You didn't show me your report card yet."

Nathan contemplated telling his father that he lost it or a bully stole it from him. Usually, though, his parents punished him and Lucas double for lying, so Nathan decided to tell his dad the truth right off the bat.

"Here," he said, handing him the envelope.

As Dan took the paper out of the envelope and read it, Nathan studied his face to try and predict what his father would say.

"Well, Nate," Dan said, putting the paper down. "This is definitely not as good as Lucas's."

"I know, Dad, I'm sorry, I tried, but..."

"Nathan," Dan interrupted. "From the looks of things, you should have tried harder. Two C's and a C minus?"

"I got a B in math..." Nathan offered feebly. "And I did get two A's."

"In art and in gym! Yet you're doing so badly in everything else!"

"I'm sorry Dad, it's just that it's harder for me."

"The material is the same for everyone, Nathan."

"Yeah, but it's hard for me..."

"Bull, Nathan!" Dan snapped. "You want to know what I think? I think that you're just being lazy! And you know where lazy people end up, don't you? They end up flipping burgers their whole life! Is that what you want?"

"No..."

"Then you better get your act together! No, actually, I'll see to it that you do. I'll get you a tutor or something. Now get out of my sight."

Nathan didn't say anything, just walked up the stairs to his room, dejected. Once there, he sat down on his bed and pulled his knees under his chin, just sitting there for a while. He couldn't help feeling sorry for himself. He did try hard at school, it's just that classes didn't come easy for him like they did for Lucas. Caught up in these thoughts, Nathan didn't hear Lucas come into his room.

"Hey man," he said. "Dad's pretty mad about your grades, huh?"

"Like you care. You're probably happy about it."

"That's what I came here for," Lucas looked down. "I'm sorry I rubbed my grades in your face. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's fine, Luke," Nathan said. "Whatever."

"Seriously Nathan," Lucas said. "I'm sorry. I was just excited."

"Whatever, Luke. It's not like you're supposed to get bad grades to make me look good."

Lucas smiled. "Your grades weren't _that_ bad."

"Well Dad seemed to have a different view on that. He'll probably ban me from having fun for forever."

Lucas was about to say something when they heard the front door open. "Hello?" Karen called. "Anybody home?"

"I'll go down and, uh..." Luke said.

"It's OK, Luke," Nathan said. "I know you want to show Mom your report card. It's fine."

Lucas smiled at Nathan and ran downstairs, while Nathan just sat on his bed, trying to hear bits of the conversation.

"I'm so proud of you!" he heard Karen exclaim.

Nathan sighed and sat back down on his bed. He picked up his report card, crumpled it and threw it into his wastebasket. Then he continued to sit on his bed and contemplate over how much life sucked at the moment. Ten minutes later, his door opened and Karen came in.

"Nathan!" she exclaimed. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Well, I'm here," Nathan said gloomily.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Karen sat down next to her son. "Have you been crying?"

"No!" Nathan furiously wiped at his cheeks.

"OK, Nate," Karen said gently, so as not to bruise Nathan's ego.

"Did you see Lucas's report card?" Nathan asked.

"Is that what this is all about?"

"No," Nathan said, but Karen could already see that he was lying.

"Honey, are you upset because he got better grades than you?"

"Lucas is smart, of course he got good grades. I'm just stupid."

"Hey!" Karen hit Nathan's arm lightly. "That's my youngest son you're talking about. And he is not stupid. He's a very smart kid."

"Yeah, right. Have you seen my grades?"

"I'm sure they're not as bad as that, Nate," Karen said. "Let's take a look."

Nathan sighed and pulled out a wad of paper from his wastebasket. "Here," he handed it to Karen.

Karen read the report card, then looked up at Nathan.

"Nathan, you got a B in math! I'm so proud of you!"

"What?"

"A B in math, Nathan! That's great!"

"But, the others..."

"Nathan," Karen put her hand on Nathan's shoulder. "You did good. I'm proud of you."

"But..."

"Yes, you slipped a bit in English. Luckily, though, English was my best subject, so I'll take it upon myself to pull you back up."

Nathan nodded and smiled a bit.

"Baby," Karen said. "You and Lucas are so competitive. Don't you understand that everyone has different strengths and weaknesses?"

"Yeah, but..."

"But nothing. Look, the teacher wrote that you try really hard in all of your classes. That's what's important, not what grade you get."

"So, you're not mad?"

"Mad? Why on earth would I be mad?"

"Well, Dad was mad. He said that I'll end up working at McDonald's for the rest of my life if I don't get my act together."

"Your father said that?" Karen asked, growing more and more angry at Dan by the minute.

Nathan nodded.

"Sweetie, have no doubts that I will talk to your father. But all I can say to you now is that he was wrong. You are a very bright kid and you will get places. You just learn things differently, that's all. But I never want you to think that you're not as smart or not as good as the other kids."

Nathan climbed into Karen's lap just like he used to do when he was little.

"You're getting too big for my lap," Karen joked.

"I am?"

"I'm kidding, Sweetie. You'll never get too big to be my baby. Now, Nate, I want you to know one more thing. As long as you try your best, I will always feel proud of you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Good," Karen kissed the top of Nathan's head. "Now, what do you say about you, me and Lucas going out for pizza to celebrate the ending of an another term?"

"I'd like that," Nathan smiled.

"Good," Karen said. "I'll just go and tell Lucas. Think you can get ready in about ten minutes?"

"Yes!" Nathan laughed and climbed off of Karen's lap. Karen went to get Lucas while Nathan climbed off his bed, feeling much better.


	7. Police Calls

The long awaited summertime had finally arrived, so the boys had a lot of free time on their hands. Maybe even too much, because they started getting into trouble from time to time. A neighbour's window broken by a baseball, a pack of bubblegum stolen from the corner store. _Normal boy stuff,_ Dan told Karen after the phone call from the store manager. _What can you do? _But the real test of patience came the previous Saturday, when the policeman showed up at their house. But let's backtrack a little bit…

Karen and Dan were sitting in the living room, Karen reading _Tess of the d'Urbervilles _for the umpteenth time, Dan going over the car dealership's figures. Luke and Nathan were supposed to be at a friend's house until eight o'clock that night, so Karen and Dan had the evening to themselves.

"Isn't this nice, Karen?" Dan turned to his wife. "Nothing that needs to be done, nowhere we have to rush off to… It's so nice to have an evening where we don't have to do anything."

But perhaps he had spoken too soon because as soon as Karen opened her mouth to reply there was a knock at the door.

"That's weird," Karen observed, standing up to answer the door. "I wonder who it could be."

Dan followed his wife to the door. They opened it and saw Lucas and Nathan standing next to a policeman. The sight was so appalling that no one spoke for a moment.

"Hello, are the two of you Mr. and Mrs. Scott?" the policeman was the first one to speak.

"Uh, yes. Yes, we are. Is there a problem, officer?"

"I'm afraid there is, Mrs. Scott. I found these two, Lucas and Nathan, throwing eggs at a house on Cuthbert Road."

"What?" Dan looked at his sons, but both of them were trying hard to avoid his gaze by looking down at their shoes. "You can't be serious!"

"I'm afraid that I am. We got a call from one of the neighbours saying that they saw something suspicious. They saw them with a group of boys their age, but by the time we got there, the rest had run away."

"I see. Officer, are you going to press charges?" Dan knew full well that he wouldn't do that to ten year-old kids. He just wanted to scare his sons a bit, so that they would think twice before pulling something like this again. He had to stifle a smile when he saw Nathan look up from gazing at his shoes, fear evident in his eyes.

"No, I think that I'll let them off with just a warning this time. However, I wanted the two of you to be aware of what your sons are up to. Make sure that it doesn't happen again."

"Oh don't worry officer, it won't," Karen answered for the two of them. "Have a good evening. Luke and Nate, come inside right now."

The policeman left and Luke and Nathan followed Karen inside, obviously embarrassed.

"Mom, Dad, this isn't what it looks like," Lucas spoke up.

"Oh yeah, Luke?" Dan turned around. "Then do you feel like telling me what it is then? Because by the looks of things, you and your brother were caught throwing eggs at a house? Seems pretty clear to me."

"Mom?" Nate turned to Karen. She was usually the one who heard them out and bugged Dan to go easier on them.

"I'm sorry, Nathan, but I'll have to agree with your father. The policeman pretty much explained it all. I mean, we still want to hear your side, of course, but the two of you are looking at some kind of punishment either way."

"Well, in that case, we don't need to tell you anything," Luke shot back.

"Sit," Dan said plainly, motioning towards the couch and meaning that he meant no nonsense. "If you don't explain how you ended up being brought home by a policeman, you will be suffering some serious consequences."

"Alright, alright," Luke replied. So he and Nathan sat down and, interrupting each other, retold the story of how they got brought home by a policeman.

_We were over at Tim's house and we were bored… We'd already played basketball and watched TV and stuff, so we didn't know what else to do. So Tim suggested we go over to Adam's house and we decided to walk there, since it was pretty close. Once we got there, we tried ringing the doorbell, but no one answered. We were pretty sure that he was at home, so we went over to the other side of the house and yelled for him._

_Well, Adam heard us, so he came out. He said that he was busy and that he couldn't come out to play with us. So we said okay, we understood. But then we realized that he wasn't busy, he just had someone else over. A girl! Tim saw it through the window, he was playing cards with Melissa from school! Can you believe it? He ditched us to play with _Melissa_! So that's when Tim suggested that we egg his house. It was stupid, I know… But we went to the corner store and bought eggs…_

At this Karen let out a small laugh.

"This is funny to you?" Dan asked.

"No, it's just that they bought the eggs for their own money. Can you believe it? They must have really wanted to egg that house."

_Anyways, we started egging the house and then…_

"Alright, I guess we know what happens next," Karen replied.

"So…" Nathan looked at his parents expectantly. "Are you guys mad?"

"What do you think, Nate?" Dan looked at his youngest son.

"Uh, you are?"

"Correct. I cannot believe it! Being brought home by a policeman?"

Karen tried to suppress a laugh once more, again unsuccesfully.

"Karen, seriously?" Dan looked at his wife.

"I'm sorry Dan, it's just that I find this kind of funny. They egged a house because one of their friends was with a girl!"

"And this is amusing to you?"

"Well, remember the time you and I TP'd John Michaels' house?"

"You toilet-papered someone's house?" Nathan could barely believe it. The thought of his dad and especially his mom throwing toilet paper at someone's house was almost too crazy to be true.

"Yeah, it was after a party when we were both, um, not thinking clearly," Dan hated to admit it, but this story was true. He also started laughing. "That was a fun night."

Karen smiled. "Ah, to be young again."

"So, it's okay?" Lucas looked from one parent to the other.

"Now, we didn't say that, Luke," Dan gave him one of his looks. "Egging someone's house is never okay. You're vandalising someone else's property. That is a crime. Which is why we expect the two of you to go over there tomorrow and offer to clean it up. After that, you're both grounded for a week."

"I agree," Karen looked at them. "That sounds about fair." Had this happened during the school year, they would have probably grounded them for longer, but a week was a very long time for a kid in the summer.

"Fine," Nathan grumbled quietly and Lucas nodded in response.

"I'd say you got off easy," Dan sighed. "God, I feel like yelling and lecturing both of you guys, but I think that we'll skip that for now. Just don't do it again."

"We're sorry," Nathan spoke up. "It was a stupid idea."

"You bet it was. And you better learn your lesson and never do anything like this again," Karen replied.

The boys nodded.

"Well, I guess you can go up to your rooms," Dan said. "There's not a lot to do before tomorrow."

"Good night, Mom, Dad," Lucas said.

"Good night," Nathan chimed in.

"Goodnight, goofballs," Karen smiled. "I'll come up in just a moment."

"Goodnight, boys," Dan finally broke his _strict dad_ act and smiled.

As soon as the boys were upstairs, Dan turned to his wife. "God, I practically forgot about that night."

"I know, it was so funny."

"I guess we can't really blame the boys for doing something we did once upon a time…"

"No, but we can't let them get away with it either…"

"I guess it's fair. They got grounded, but not yelled at."

"I guess…" Karen said and with that the two went down memory lane to the days when they were young…


	8. Fight

**AN: I know that it's been awhile, but after reading the last review (Thank you, Sasha Snape), I have decided to continue with the story. **

Lucas and Nathan were sitting across from each other, looking at the board. The new school year had just begun and the boys had been placed in the same class. The school usually tried to avoid putting siblings in the same class, but this year one of the two fifth grade teachers was offered a better-paid position at one of the private schools, leaving the school with only one person to teach the whole fifth grade. This meant that Luke and Nathan would be seeing a lot of each other this year—both at school and at home.

Karen hadn't liked that idea at first. Over the summer, the boys had started to get one each other's nerves—constantly bickering over the littlest things. It seemed like Karen or Dan were constantly pulling them off of each other before one of them punched the other one. She was worried about the same thing happening at school and her having to constantly come in and talk to their teacher.

It was then surprising for everyone when the opposite of what she expected to happen happened. Instead of driving the two of them apart, being in the same class made them closer. They weren't fighting as much at home and Karen hadn't received any phone calls from their teacher. In fact, she was just telling this to one of the waitresses at work when the phone rang.

"Hello and may I please speak to Mrs. Scott?" the voice on the phone said the moment Karen had picked up.

"This is she. And may I ask who is calling?" countered Karen.

"This is Mr. Shafer, the principal of the elementary school your sons go to," the principal said. "I'm calling about one of your sons."

"Which one?" Karen asked. She was a little surprised that she hadn't recognized the principal's voice over the phone, especially after all the time she spent talking to him last year.

"Nathan. He's sitting in the principal's office right now. His teacher saw him fighting on the playground and brought him straight here. I understand that this isn't his first time being involved in this type of incident. It'd be great if you could come in so that we can talk about this face to face."

"Could I call you back in a couple of minutes? I'm going to see if I can get someone to cover for me at work."

"Alright, Mrs. Scott," said Principal Shafer. "Nathan and I will be waiting for your call."

Karen put down the phone, her head spinning. _Well, the good behaviour at school didn't last for long. _Karen asked around, trying to get someone to watch over the café while she was gone, but they were already low on staff and it seemed like driving to the school at that moment would not work out. She decided to call Dan.

"Great," Dan said after Karen had explained what had happened to him. "I can't believe that kid. It hasn't been a week since school started and he's already in trouble. Haven't I already talked to both of them about fights?"

"Well, the boys don't normally fight with the kids at school. We need to go down there and find out what really happened. Unfortunately, I'm completely tied down at the café. Can you stop by the school and talk to their principal?"

"I guess I could. I probably owe you for missing the last few parent/teacher conference nights, right?"

"You know that I don't keep track of these things, right?" Karen replied. "Just go down there and talk to the principal. I'll call him to let him know that you'll be coming down there instead of me."

"Okay," Dan nodded even though he knew that there was no way for Karen to see him.

"Oh, and Dan?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to yell at him too much, okay? Especially before you learn all the facts. Maybe this has all been a big misunderstanding."

"Okay," Dan replied, smiling to himself. "You always were too easy on them, Kare."

The car dealership wasn't far from the boys's elementary school and it didn't take Dan long to get there. He had no trouble locating the office (after all, it wasn't his first time here) and once he was there the secretary waved him in to see Mr. Shafer. Dan was not looking forward to this at all. He preferred to be in here as little as possible, since he hated the way the principal talked down to everyone and sometimes even had to stop himself from telling the guy off.

"Hello, Mr. Shafer. I understand there's been a problem involving one of my sons?" Dan said right after coming in. He didn't say anything to Nathan, whom he saw sitting in a chair close to the principal's desk. Nate was looking down at his shoelaces, trying to make as little noise as possible. Dan almost had to smile—the kid looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Yes, Mr. Scott, Nathan here has been involved in a fight. Nathan, why don't you tell your dad about what happened on the playground?" The principal motioned towards the chair next to the one Dan had occupied.

"Nathan?" Dan prompted after his son had sat down. "What happened today?"

"I fought," Nathan whispered, barely loudly enough for anyone else to hear. It was obvious that he was trying to judge how angry his dad was at him by looking at the expression on his face.

"I understand that, Nate. Now could you please tell us why you fought?"

"Mr. Scott, that doesn't really matter. What matter is that he just admitted to fighting and we don't tolerate fighting here."

"Hold on a second there," Dan quickly interrupted the principal. "What do you mean, it doesn't matter? Maybe he had a good reason for fighting. The least you can do is hear him out."

"There can never be a good reason for fighting. Our school has a zero tolerance for violence. One strike and you're out."

"Were any of the kids hurt?"

"No, which is why he is not being expelled from the school. But…"

"Nathan, why don't you tell me why you fought?" Dan said, not caring for anything else Mr. Shafer said. "I want to know."

"One of the guys on the playground called Lucas a geek and grabbed his schoolbag from him," Nathan whispered even more quietly than before. "We yelled at them to give it back, but they wouldn't listen, so I…" Nathan stopped talking.

"You punched him?"

"Not very hard! But then his friends…"

"I see," Dan said. "Mr. Shafer, is this true?"

"He may have said something about his brother. Either way, it doesn't matter _why_…"

"Of course it matter why he did it," interrupted Dan. "That might even be more important than what he did. But where are all these other boys?"

"Well, they are not the ones with the regular fighting record, Mr. Scott," Mr. Shafer looked at Dan.

"What record?" Dan asked. "The school has not been open for a week…"

"Well, his record states that he was involved in a fight two years ago. And in his kindergarten class…"

"Are you also going to mention what he did in preschool, Mr. Shafer? You're right, my son shouldn't have thrown the first punch. But he was just standing up for his brother. As far as I'm concerned, those other boys shouldn't have been running away with my other son's backpack. Are you talking to any of them about their behaviour?"

Nathan looked up for the first time since his dad got there. He had expected to be in big trouble and was surprised to hear the words coming out of his dad's mouth.

"What I do about the other students is none of your concern, Mr. Scott," replied Mr. Shafer.

"When it involves one of my sons, it is my concern," countered Dan. "But let's cut to the chase. Are you going to give Nathan a week of detention?"

"Not exactly, Mr. Scott. Since this isn't his first offence, he'll be suspended for four school days. If anything like this happens again, he could be expelled."

"Suspended for what?" Dan couldn't resist asking.

"Mr. Scott, please. Nathan's a difficult child and…"

That definitely crossed the line. "First of all, Mr. Shafer, Nathan is not a difficult child. Compared with what you let some of the other kids get away with, he hardly did anything wrong. And second of all, if you ever refer to my son as a difficult child again, you'll be faced with a serious lawsuit? Have I made myself clear?"

Mr. Shafer was too shocked to say anything, so Dan continued.

"I take it that you don't have anything else to tell me? Let's go, Nathan. I'd like to take Lucas home for the day as well."

"Fine," Mr. Shafer replied. "You can go by his classroom and I'll let the teacher know that you stopped by. I expect to see Nathan back at the school on Monday. Good day, Mr. Scott."

"Good day, Mr. Shafer," Dan said as he and Nathan were walking out of the office. He was still fuming from the conversation they had had earlier.

"Dad?" Nathan asked as soon as they were out of the office. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"What?" Dan paused for a second, trying to gather his thoughts. "Oh no, kiddo, I'm not mad at you. You did what you had to do. I don't condone fighting or anything, but I would have done the same thing in your shoes."

"Really?" Nathan finally smiled. "That's great, Dad! And can I say that you were awesome in there?"

"I was?" Dan laughed. "Well, someone had to put that asshole back in his place."

Nathan just stood there, staring at his dad with big eyes, not knowing whether it was okay for him to laugh.

"Oh, you won't tell your mother I said that, will you? And remember: fighting for no reason is bad. Do not do it. But in this case…"

"So we're good?" Nathan asked, just to make sure that his dad wasn't going to change his mind on the whole no-punishment-needed thing.

"Yeah, we're good," Dan smiled, putting an arm around Nathan's shoulders. "Why don't we go pick up your brother and then go get some ice cream sundaes or something? Just promise to still eat your mother's dinner, okay?"


End file.
